Balkan criminals enjoy "excellent cooperation"

Balkan criminals enjoy "excellent cooperation"

PODGORICA -- Balkan criminals have established "excellent cooperation" and institutions "must respond adequately," says Montenegrin Interior Minister Rasko Konjevic.

He announced the formation of a special police department which will act upon the orders of the Special Prosecutor for Corruption and Organized Crime.

Participating in the project "Montenegro on Twitter," carried out by the Center for Democratic Transition and FAKT NGOs, Konjevic also said that regional cooperation is "good."

"Together we have solved some of the most serious crimes in Montenegro and Serbia... Some crimes have been prevented through exchange of information," the Montenegrin minister posted on his Twitter account.

Konjevic also announced that starting on July 1 next year, the police will no longer provide security for courts and added that more police officers will be assigned to their core competencies.

"Patrolmen will be reinstated. A project of patrol areas is being done for Podgorica and will be implemented next year," he explained.

According to Konjevic, amendments to the Law on Internal Affairs envisage that a police officer can take official action even when off duty, while amendments to the Criminal Code have been proposed to provide protection in such cases, and treat any attack against off duty officers as attack on an official person.